Innovate UK is to invest up to £19 million to support innovation across the manufacturing and materials and Infrastructure systems sectors. Funded projects will target opportunities that offer significant changes in productivity and cutting-edge innovations.

Funding will be allocated as follows:

up to £5 million for projects up to 12 months
up to £14 million for projects between 13 and 36 months

A further £16 million is available to fund Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).

There are two strands to this competition, this one being Strand 1: Manufacturing and Materials. The other strand is Infrastructure Systems.

To apply, an eligible project in manufacturing and materials, must cover at least one of the following areas:

innovation in a manufacturing system, technology, process or business model

innovation in materials development, properties, integration or reuse

a manufacturing or materials innovation, rather than a product innovation

Proposals must improve business growth and productivity or create export opportunities for at least one UK SME involved in the project.